Terrible performance, after all the hype of the previous games a sharp dose of reality administered. Cleverly proved himself to be poor against decent opposition, his positional sense is good but had trouble controlling and using the ball under pressure, not great in front of goal. Our version of Cesc my backside.
Gerrard and Lampard cant play together, they arent intelligent enough to make it work. Both seemed to go missing when our CBs needed a pass which lead to us losing possession way too easily. Milner wasnt much of an outlet on the wing as he kept drifting in centrally, may have been a tactic but he offers even less infield than out wide. Cannot see why Welbeck was played on the left, he cant do it as Utd have found out this season. If we are to start playing with the ball more we desperately need Wilshere back, sick and tired of seeing Gerrard try and play hollywood passes when a simple pass is on, although he wasnt the only one guilty of that.
The no 10 for Ukraine was quality and made Johnson look the crap defender he is pretty much all game.

Really disappointing result given we were at home and if we keep performing like that this group wont be the walkover it should be.

At least Gerrard will get a rest which is a good thing for Liverpool as he desperately needs it..

Against San Marino even Cleverley will look world class,we were very poor against Ukraine and having Defoe up front was never going to work,if Carroll is injured then why isn't a proven Peter Crouch getting a chance?

Bren10 wrote:Terrible performance, after all the hype of the previous games a sharp dose of reality administered. Cleverly proved himself to be poor against decent opposition, his positional sense is good but had trouble controlling and using the ball under pressure, not great in front of goal. Our version of Cesc my backside.Gerrard and Lampard cant play together, they arent intelligent enough to make it work. Both seemed to go missing when our CBs needed a pass which lead to us losing possession way too easily. Milner wasnt much of an outlet on the wing as he kept drifting in centrally, may have been a tactic but he offers even less infield than out wide. Cannot see why Welbeck was played on the left, he cant do it as Utd have found out this season. If we are to start playing with the ball more we desperately need Wilshere back, sick and tired of seeing Gerrard try and play hollywood passes when a simple pass is on, although he wasnt the only one guilty of that.The no 10 for Ukraine was quality and made Johnson look the crap defender he is pretty much all game.

Really disappointing result given we were at home and if we keep performing like that this group wont be the walkover it should be.

Gerrard and Lampard have played together for over 50+ games and not one manager has noticed they can't play together yet...both are attacking midfielders but like you say they lack the know how for one to drop deeper once the other has gone forward...i lost count the number of times i saw Lampard in the opposition penalty area and i'm sure he was there more than the Ukranian goalkeeper..

Gerrard shouldn't have been playing as i have said in another thread he is absolutely knackered and every performance so far this season shows that,Lampard and Carrick should have been the central pairing as Carrick sits in midfield to allow Lampard to venture forward..

Luckily Gerrard now gets this rest and whoever comes in will have an easy night anyway.

Bren10 wrote:Terrible performance, after all the hype of the previous games a sharp dose of reality administered. Cleverly proved himself to be poor against decent opposition, his positional sense is good but had trouble controlling and using the ball under pressure, not great in front of goal. Our version of Cesc my backside.Gerrard and Lampard cant play together, they arent intelligent enough to make it work. Both seemed to go missing when our CBs needed a pass which lead to us losing possession way too easily. Milner wasnt much of an outlet on the wing as he kept drifting in centrally, may have been a tactic but he offers even less infield than out wide. Cannot see why Welbeck was played on the left, he cant do it as Utd have found out this season. If we are to start playing with the ball more we desperately need Wilshere back, sick and tired of seeing Gerrard try and play hollywood passes when a simple pass is on, although he wasnt the only one guilty of that.The no 10 for Ukraine was quality and made Johnson look the crap defender he is pretty much all game.

Really disappointing result given we were at home and if we keep performing like that this group wont be the walkover it should be.

Gerrard and Lampard have played together for over 50+ games and not one manager has noticed they can't play together yet...both are attacking midfielders but like you say they lack the know how for one to drop deeper once the other has gone forward...i lost count the number of times i saw Lampard in the opposition penalty area and i'm sure he was there more than the Ukranian goalkeeper..

Gerrard shouldn't have been playing as i have said in another thread he is absolutely knackered and every performance so far this season shows that,Lampard and Carrick should have been the central pairing as Carrick sits in midfield to allow Lampard to venture forward..

Luckily Gerrard now gets this rest and whoever comes in will have an easy night anyway.

It's a flipping joke !
The last man to put Lampard on the bench for a competitive match got fired within months! He does nothing for 90% of the game steps up slots in a penalty he never had any parts in creating and gets all the plaudits in the moronic press. When mangers see that they are reluctant to put that player on the bench out of fear of the back lash from the press who seem to think the sun shines out of his rectum. I want a player on that pitch who puts in a shift especially in that area of the pitch that is more important in todays game than ever before for England. If you are team who has to play England you live each minute waiting to see the xmas gift that is putting Lampard and Gerrard in that midfield. I think even Cleverly could waltz around that pair and look like the second coming of Iniesta ffs! That england team is a product of the press for the most part it reflects the amount of change THEY are willing to accept. They would rather lose with those two in the team plus Terry than win with them out.I truly believe that.

Lampard getting m.o.m was enough for me, he actually contributed nothing apart from a pen. What bothered me the most is he should be getting the knack of that position as its his in the Chelsea line up but he was nowhere to be found when needed apart from hanging around in the area I dont know what his role is. At one point the ball fell loose on the corner of the box, he just had a shot from an impossible angle. Now I know there wasnt support but he could quite easily have controlled the ball and passed it back so as to retain possession, the commentator then praises the attempt as if it was all he could do, then proceeds to talk about the importance of keeping the ball at this level. Absolute retards, the press, the pundits/commentators and ultimately the players. After every game with decent opposition we are saying the same things, cant keep the ball, cant use it properly and issues with mentality. Its all getting a little boring now and until certain players (who have had 10 years or so of chances to fail continually) are finally cast out into the wilderness nothing will change.
On that note it is quite amusing that one of the old guard who has been cast away for "footballing reasons" would have been quite useful on Tuesday.